OVERWHELMED?

Make Decisions.

The most overwhelming thing about being overwhelmed is getting your decision making mechanism activated. The holiday season gives rise to getting your personal leadership gears stuck. People to see. Places to go. Events. Gifts. Special meals. Family reunions. And always, there’s business and career. So much to do and so little time.

“Personal Leadership”? Yes, I did mention that. As in leading your SELF  through all the excitement, clamber, congestion, over-indulgence temptations, and disheartening year-end assessments, to a place of reckoning.

That translates to getting UNstuck by getting back in touch with your ability to prioritize and make decisions. There’s really no place else to start except with yourself. If you aren’t healthy and moving forward, how can your business be?

Here’s an old standby method that always works and will help you get UNstuck now. . .

START by listing the 6 critical personal leadership categories at the top of your Word page or Excel grid or piece of paper: spritual, intellectual, physical, emotional, mental, financial. Then itemize random points/parts/ issues that need attention under each heading. Maximum 3 minutes for each column. (If it takes longer to think of, it’s not critical!)

Then, consolidate all items that can be addressed in a bundle fashion or that may represent duplication of effort.

Next– and always with the understanding and expectation that priorities can change in an instant– assign priority number values to each item in each column. Maximum 1 minute per column.

NOW, assign * or ** or *** to each #1 item in each column, then to each #2 item, etc. Take *designated #1 item and attack it. NOW. When it’s done, move on to *designated #2 item, and so on, through **designated #1 items, etc.

Always be prepared to re-prioritize based on what may end up in your face that changes the circumstances. The trick is to use determination and stick-to-it-ive-ness to take each challenge to a point of resolution before moving ahead to the next one.

When you clear the decks of issues that jam up your personal leader-ship skills, go for the rest of the overwhelm. You will be enormously more successful at business, career, and family leadership when you simply start making decisions about how to first deal with you so the rest of what you do is coming from a position of strength, and a true leadership posture.

Oh, and take lots of deep breaths and make it fun whenever you can. Those are choices, you know.

# # #

FREE blog subscription Posts RSS Feed

Hal@Businessworks.US    302.933.0911